The Royal Ballet welcomes seven dancers to the Company for the 2016/17 Aud Jebsen Young Dancers Programme. The programme provides an opportunity for recently graduated dancers to receive a year’s contract to work alongside the corps de ballet of The Royal Ballet. In addition the dancers are offered mentoring and coaching and have the opportunity to perform with the Company. Next Season’s Aud Jebsen Young Dancers are Estelle Bovay, Maria Castillo Yoshida, Arianna Maldini, Giacomo Rovero, Francisco Serrano and Charlotte Tonkinson, all from The Royal Ballet School.

'I covered the role when it first premiered a few years ago', she says. 'I remember at the end of the run, Wayne said to me, "Next time you'll give it a go". Of course I was immediately excited.'

The New York City-born dancer has found it fascinating to work with McGregor: 'It's almost like a mathematical equation when you're working in the studio with him. His mind works in shapes - there are patterns of geometry, inversing, reversing, counting backwards, and going in different directions.'

'Throughout the day I refer to little sections from the book so that I can visualize the story. They're beautiful illustrations.'

Typically for a McGregor work, Raven Girl places strong demands on its performers, particularly in the final few minutes:

'The pas de deux at the end of the ballet is very strenuous', says Beatriz. 'It's seven-and-a-half minutes of lifting and running around with one another. It's the culmination of her happiness - she's found her soul-mate, the person that she knows that she can be herself with. This is when we finally see her as the person she wants to be.'

The event — one of a number of upcoming live streams from the Royal Opera House — will feature members of the Company rehearsing both pas de deux and solos, as well as being interviewed. Sarah Lamb and Ryoichi Hirano will rehearse the act one and three pas de deux, and Alexander Campbell will be coached through Mercutio's solos from acts one and two. The session will be led by Senior Ballet Master Christopher Saunders.

MacMillan's ballet celebrates its 50th anniversary this Season and — as well as this streamed Insight — the production will be one of the focuses of The Royal Ballet's contribution to the live-streamed World Ballet Day event on 1 October.

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The production is supported by Boodles and given with generous philanthropic support from Peter Lloyd, Lindsay and Sarah Tomlinson and the Jean Sainsbury Royal Opera House Fund.

The inaugural Ann Maguire Gala performance hosted by Darcey Bussell and Jonathan Cope will feature an array of stars from the world of ballet in an evening of dance and music in support of the Ann Maguire Arts Education Fund.

Emma Maguire says: 'My mother was an inspirational teacher for generations of young people in Leeds. As a family we felt that setting up a charity that continues her dedication to helping young people is what she would have wanted. We are eternally grateful to all the artists that have come together to make the inaugural Ann Maguire Gala possible, an event which not only launches a new charity but will honour our mother.'

The Royal Ballet is to perform in Northern Ireland for the first time in twelve years from 30-31 March 2013.

The Company will perform in Derry with the Ulster Orchestra in a gala performance as part of the UK City of Culture 2013 celebrations.

Royal Ballet dancers Yuhui Choe, Dromore-born Melissa Hamilton, Ryoichi Hirano and Dawid Trzensimiech will appear in selected highlights from the Company’s repertory conducted by Londonderry born Paul Murphy. In addition to the pas de deux from Acts II and III of Swan Lake the dancers will perform Frederick Ashton’s Meditation from Thaïs to music from Massenet’s opera of the same name and the pas de deux from the Second Movement of Kenneth Macmillan’s Concerto.